2 dead in small plane crash near Auburn

AUBURN, Calif.—Two people are dead after their small plane crashed near Auburn Municipal Airport late Saturday, authorities said.

The Cessna 170 crashed in a heavily wooded area about one mile south of the airport around 9:10 p.m. Saturday, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Allen Kenitzer.

The plane went down under "unknown circumstances," Kenitzer said. He did not know if the plane had just taken off or was on approach to the airport at the time of the crash.

Deputies began searching for the plane after getting a call from the California Office of Emergency Services about a possible plane crash.

After commercial airliners confirmed a distress signal from an aircraft's emergency locating transmitter, the wreckage of the plane was found about 1:45 a.m. by a California Highway Patrol helicopter and deputies on the ground using a handheld radio programmed with the distress signal information, Placer County officials said.

The two occupants of the plane were found dead. Their names have not been released.

Both the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the crash.

The airport near the scene of the crash is part of an industrial park in Auburn, a Sierra foothills community about 35 miles northeast of Sacramento.

At an elevation of 1,500 feet Auburn Municipal Airport is above the fog and usually clear year-round, according to its website. Weather at the time of the crash was clear and winds were calm, the National Weather Service said.